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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Request for Information (RFI) about administrative adjudications. The bureau is seeking to better understand the benefits and impacts of its use of administrative adjudications, and how its existing process may be improved. This is the second in a series of RFIs announced as part of Acting Director Mick Mulvaney’s call for evidence to ensure the bureau is fulfilling its proper and appropriate functions to best protect consumers. This RFI will provide an opportunity for the public to submit feedback and suggest ways to improve outcomes for both consumers and covered entities. The next RFI in the series will address the bureau’s enforcement processes, and will be issued next week.

The Scali Law Firm, a firm specializing in auto dealership law, announced that Jack Schaedel has joined the firm as a partner. Schaedel moves over from the Los Angeles office of Dykema, where he was a partner and member of the Labor & Employment Practice Group. His experience includes numerous favorable verdicts and dismissals for clients accused of discrimination or harassment, including a million-dollar reverse fee award in favor of a client wrongly accused of sexual harassment by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.At the Scali firm, Schaedel will co-chair the Labor and Employment Law Practice, with partner Jennifer Woo Burns.

North Dakota’s attorney general issued a cease and desist order against Jason Rhoden of Santa Ana, Calif., doing business as Vehicle Protection Department LLC, for violations of the consumer fraud and telephone solicitation laws.The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection division initiated an investigation after a consumer complained that she received a telephone solicitation even though her number is registered on the Do Not Call list. The consumer complained that Rhoden’s company offered to sell her an extended warranty for a vehicle she does not own. The consumer reported that when she questioned the caller, he responded with a threat, telling her he knew where she lived.Rhoden also operates a website selling these supposed extended warranties, vehicleprotectiondepartment.net.Rhoden ignored all efforts by investigators to contact him over several weeks, and he did not respond to the investigative demand for information about solicitation calls his company made to North Dakota residents. Rhoden has been banned from making any further solicitations in North Dakota, including selling extended vehicle warranties to North Dakota residents through his website.

It seems there is a new story every day about sexual harassment in the workplace.
As a a result, employees are now willing speak up about comments or conduct that may have been afraid to speak up about in the past, said attorney Matthew Simpson of Fisher & Phillips LLP.
“It’s not they type of situation where you want to walk up to the line and not cross it,” Simpson said. “You want to stay far away from that line.”
Simpson said dealers already face elevated scrutiny due to the reputation of their business. This makes avoiding any additional accusations even more important.
Harassment can come anybody in the store, including employees, vendors and even customers.
The legal standard is fairly high, Simpson said. It requires a sever offense or unwelcome action or conduct that’s sever or offensive.
So saying a woman looks good in a dress might not meet the legal requirement. Saying it on a daily basis gets closer.
Simpson said dealers need to take steps to prevent any claims of harassment. This means training staff on proper behavior and taking any claims seriously.
All this comes with a cost, but the cost of lawsuits and bad publicity are much higher.